BUSINESSES are bracing themselves for Pottermania in 2007. However, it's not Harry who's causing all the excitement, but Beatrix, the much-loved children's author whose life is to be depicted in a forthcoming film.

Academy award-winning actress Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor star in Miss Potter, which is released on Friday. Much of the film has been shot in the Lake District, where the author spent most of her life, as well as in Inveraray on Loch Fyne and on the Isle of Man.

Tourist boards and bookstores alike are hoping for a bumper year of customers eager to get a slice of Potter's world, which has introduced millions of readers to tales of Peter Rabbit, Squirrel Nutkin and Jemima Puddle Duck.

Alex Hippisley-Cox, of Borders bookstores, said: "We will be stocking up on Beatrix Potter titles to tie in with our three-for-two promotions. We will also be placing some front-of-store displays and promoting it heavily."

Cumbria Tourist Board is anticipating that thousands of tourists from all over the world will flock to the area. In 1905 Potter moved to Hill Top Farm in the village of Near Sawrey, which has been preserved by the National Trust exactly as she left it when she died in 1943. It receives hundreds of visitors every week.

Ellis Butcher, spokesman for the tourist board, said: "We think this will do for the Lake District what films like Braveheart did for Scottish tourism."

Cumbria Tourist Board has recently spent GBP2 million on refurbishing the World of Beatrix Potter attraction, which brings to life all 23 tales as well as having Mr McGregor's greenhouse, and a gallery of Potter's original book illustrations.

The tourist board has also developed a website and movie map dedicated to Beatrix Potter, and which includes the film locations and the landscape that inspired her many children's books.

Scotland is also expected to cash in.

Potter and her family had holidays at Dalguise House in Perthshire, where she would follow local postman Charles Macintosh, who sparked her interest in the countryside and animals. Her time in Scotland inspired stories of Jeremy Fisher and Mrs Tiggywinkle, who was almost certainly based on an old washer woman who worked in Dalguise.

Birnam Arts Centre in Dunkeld has already seen a rise in visitors to its Beatrix Potter exhibition and garden.

Gemma Maramis, arts programmer at Birnam Arts Centre, said: "I feel there's been a definite pickup in interest. I've seen more people coming in on their own just to see the exhibition, and it seems there's a lot of different kinds of people too."

Miss Potter is released this Friday

NEED TO KNOW

THE FACTS Renee Zellweger plays Beatrix Potter in the film Miss Potter. A rise in sales of Potter's books is anticipated, as well as in visitors to the Lake District and Scotland.

BACKGROUND More than 40 million copies of her first book, The Tale Of Peter Rabbit, have been sold.

Mrs Tiggywinkle is believed to be based on a Scots washerwoman.

NEED TO KNOW MORE?

www. visit misspotter. com Tours for Beatrix Potter fans.